Roses and the Sugar Shack
by maggiejpegasus
Summary: Brittany knew that the white ones mean true love. Post-"Heart" one-shot.


Santana walked out of Breadstix and was immediately reminded that it was February in Ohio. She shivered through her jacket, and Brittany gave her hand a squeeze. Santana looked over at her girlfriend, and felt a hot blush creeping up her cheeks. She had just had what was probably the best Valentine's Day in recorded history, because she had spent it with Brittany.

They walked in blissful silence to Santana's car. Santana made to detangle her fingers from Brittany's, but Brittany stopped her. She instead pulled Santana into her for another kiss. Santana wrapped her arms around Brittany's neck as she wrapped hers around Santana's waist and gently pressed her up against the car. Santana arched her back slightly and leaned into Brittany's touch as she felt the blonde's tongue tease her lips apart. She temporarily forgot that it was about twenty degrees outside and that she was wearing a rather short dress and instead focused on how good it felt to be kissing Brittany. Suddenly, though, Brittany pulled away.

"Mmmmmmf, Britt…why'd you stop?" Santana stuck out her lower lip in a slight pout and Brittany smiled and giggled nervously. She looked around at the mostly deserted parking lot.

"We were the last ones to leave, right?"

"You mean besides Sugar, because she couldn't stop talking?" Santana shook her head, thinking about how the enthusiastic girl had kept talking to them about how cute they were for almost an hour after everyone else had left. It was like she was talking to her favorite band: almost fanatical, but in a good way.

"Well, yeah, but she left, right?"

"Yeah, I saw her leave. Britt, what's up?"

Brittany took a deep breath before she continued.

"Well, I've been thinking…" Brittany paused and bit her lip, trying to remember how she had practiced this.

Santana's heart sank at Brittany's pause. _Is she going to break up with me?_she thought. _Damn it, I knew the Vocal Valentine was too much…_

"Don't look so sad, San!" Brittany exclaimed. Even in the dark of the parking lot, she could see that Santana's face had fallen a little. "It's nothing bad! I just…there's something I wanted to…ask you." Brittany felt her heart start beating faster and the butterflies in her stomach start to flutter their wings at about a million miles a minute. The whole speech she had so carefully practiced in her mirror and in front of Lord Tubbington was suddenly gone from her memory.

"Yeah?"

Santana said it in a whisper, almost reflexively, and reached up a hand to cup Brittany's cheek. She caressed the soft skin gently with her thumb and waited patiently as Brittany searched for the right words.

"Santana…I love you. So much. And I just…I want to ask you something." She repeated the last sentence and kicked herself for it, cursing her butterflies. "Please…please don't be mad at me."

"I could never be mad at you, Britt. Ever." Santana murmured. It was true. The two had had hardly a fight since they were little kids.

Brittany took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down because she knew that if she didn't, she would make a fool of herself. She tried to remember how she wanted to say it; how she had caught a flash of sadness cross Santana's face when Finn and Rachel announced their engagement, how she had followed Santana into the girls' room after leaving Principal Figgins' office and she had clearly been crying (even though she tried to pass it off as her contacts), how she had looked at that new kid with defeat when he paused before delivering her Vocal Valentine. It all confirmed what Brittany had thought for months, and had caused her to breathe a sigh of relief. Santana felt it too.

"I know you don't think it's fair that Finn and Rachel can get married and kiss in the hallway and do all of that other couple-y stuff in public. I saw how you kept looking at them today, and-"

"It _isn't_ fair." Santana cut in quietly. "It isn't fair, because I can't do any of it with you." She whispered that last part so quietly that Brittany could barely hear her. "I love you more than anything, and all I want is to be able to share what we have like everyone else. Especially them." Santana's eyes went wide when she realized she had said that last part out loud. She didn't want to make it seem like she was putting any pressure on Brittany.

Brittany, however, was too nervous to notice Santana's abrupt confession and continued on. "I don't know how you feel about this, but I thought I'd ask anyway. Just because."

Santana could only nod for Brittany to go on, unable to open her mouth. Was this really going where she thought it was going? She wasn't so sure she could breathe, let alone say a word.

"Santana, I think I've loved you since we were four years old, when you used to stand up to all the big neighborhood boys when they would make fun of me. I can't imagine my life without you, and I…I wanted to know…will you marry me? It doesn't have to be soon, we could do it next month, next year, five years from now…it doesn't matter. I just want to be with you. Forever." Brittany felt her cheeks immediately burn hot. It had taken her so much longer to get it out than she had anticipated, and Santana's immediate silence only made her face burn hotter.

"You don't have to say yes." Brittany was quick to start saving face. "I mean, we're only in high school and-"

Brittany's next words were cut off by Santana all but body-slamming her as the threw her arms around Brittany's neck and kissed her so deeply, it made Brittany's head spin. Brittany wrapped her arms around the shorter girl's waist to keep them both from falling over as she kissed Santana back, leaning in and pulling Santana's body in so that it fit the curve of hers. Santana pulled away first, flushed and beaming.

"Brittany S. Pierce, I swear, if you EVER scare me like that again..."

"So does that mean..." Brittany gasped, trying to recover from Santana's surprise attack.

"YES!"

This time, it was Brittany's turn. She pressed Santana back against the car as she captured Santana's lips in a deep, gentle kiss, much like the one they had shared during the party earlier that night. Once they came up for air, Brittany took that moment to address the one thing she hadn't mentioned.

"I don't have a real ring for you, but I do have this," Brittany said, blushing again. "It's really not much, but still..." She fished around in her purse for a minute, and produced a jewelry box, which she opened to reveal a thin silver chain with a small, white rose hanging in the middle.

"Brittany," Santana breathed, her throat closing up as she tried not to totally lose her shit. "It's beautiful."

Brittany took it out of the box and motioned for Santana to turn around. As she fumbled with the clasp in the slight glow from Breadstix's outside lights, she kissed Santana's neck gently.

"D'you know what the white ones mean?" She asked quietly.

"N-no." Santana was definitely not going to be able to control herself much longer.

Santana turned to face Brittany, who was beaming. Brittany ran her fingers over the delicate pendant, tears sparking in her eyes.

"They mean true love."

"Are you _sure_ everything looks all right?" A nervous Santana asked Quinn for the hundredth time, pacing back and forth.

"For Christ's sake, Lopez, _calm down_! What kind of bridesmaid am I if I can't keep you from having a coronary? Everything is perfect. Believe me, I put this whole shindig together. Remember that?" Quinn gave her friend a teasing smile and walked over to her.

"You will be _fine_. Everything is perfect, including you two." Quinn turned Santana around and started massaging her bare shoulders, being careful not to mess with Santana's perfectly done hair.

Santana let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding. "Sorry. I just want today to be perfect, you know?" She looked at herself in the full-length mirror on the wall. Her strapless white dress fell without a crease or wrinkle, and her hair flowed in elegant curls with small flowers scattered throughout. Her jewelry was simple: small earrings and a thin bracelet, so she was able to highlight what was around her neck. Santana brought her hand to her chest and ran her fingers over the white petals on the rose necklace. She hadn't taken it off since the day Brittany had given it to her.

Quinn stopped massaging Santana's shoulders and Santana took a deep breath, still holding the rose on her necklace.

"You ready?" Quinn asked. "It's about time."

"Yeah," Santana replied, lowering her hand. Her look of panic was slowly replaced by a huge smile, and she crossed to the door. "I'm ready."


End file.
